Remembering Isn't Resentment
Relationships accumulate history, and history accumulates meaning. When the same kind of hard conversation happens over and over, across years, it stops being a series of isolated moments. It becomes a pattern.

Relationships accumulate history, and history accumulates meaning. When the same kind of hard conversation happens over and over, across years, it stops being a series of isolated moments. It becomes a pattern.

If shame worked, estrangement wouldn't exist. In order to repair, you need curiosity, which is slower than shame. It's also the only one of the two that's ever actually worked.

The work of healing is learning to separate two questions: What is happening between my child and me? and What is happening inside of me because of it?

Many parents believe they're helping while unknowingly teaching a child that love is contingent on self-correction. That if they can just be a little less emotional, the relationship will finally feel peaceful. That isn't peace. That's adaptation.